Burpee holding company files for bankruptcy
dhmeiser
Owner George Ball Jr. said the seed company part of the business is
still going strong. Expansions into other areas, however, have not
done as well.
WARMINSTER —George Ball Jr. would love to talk about his new Big
Mama tomatoes and Cyclops sunflowers.
Instead, the president and chief executive officer of seed-giant W.
Atlee Burpee, finds himself answering questions about bankruptcy and
Chapter 11.
Burpee Holding company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on
Sept. 21.
Ball said the move was the result of a dispute over the repayment of
loans, including one for $16.6 million from PNC Financial Services
Group.
However, recent setbacks within W. Atlee Burpee —including the
closing of three retail stores, one of which was in Horsham
—were a contributing factor to the decision to file for Chapter
11 protection, according to Ball.
During the mid-1990s, for tax and estate-planning purposes, Ball
created the holding company to oversee all his business ventures,
which include W. Atlee Burpee, as well as publishing companies.
According to credit-rating firm Dun & Bradstreet, the holding company
had revenues over $50 million in 2000, with more than half of this
total from W. Atlee Burpee.
Since it is privately held, Ball is not required —and doesn't
—divulge or discuss specific financial information.
"The holding company borrowed money from the lender," Ball said. "And
the lender was not content with the performance of the holding company
and the ability to carry its facility forward. So, we filed for
Chapter 11 reluctantly. It is a dispute with the lender."
The holding company has nothing to do with the operation of the seed
company, Ball said, and even if the holding company's financial
troubles continue, it will not affect W. Atlee Burpee.
Ball said he regrets naming it the Burpee Holding Company. If he had
called it GB Holding or XYZ Holding, there wouldn't be such an uproar
and he could be pushing the Big Mamas and Cyclops.
"This does not affect (W. Atlee Burpee) at all," Ball said. "We're
preparing our shipments. At this minute, I'm writing the 2002
catalogue, which will go out in December. The great Burpee company is
still the great Burpee company and is completely unaffected."
However, the great Burpee company has had some recent failures.
In 2000, Burpee opened three retail stores.
All went out of business within a year.
"They went over budget and under revenue and we had to make a
decision," Ball said. "(The failures) certainly influenced things,
everything influences one's ability to improve one's situation...We
expanded and acquired new businesses and frankly none of them worked
very well. Our core (is developing and selling seeds and plants) and
we're retrenching and still doing that very well."
Which brings us to Big Mama and Cyclops, which Ball is more than happy
to talk about.
The Big Mama is a large sauce tomato with very few seeds; the Cyclops
is the world's tallest sunflower. Under normal conditions, it should
grow to 14 feet, with flowers that are a foot-and-a-half.
Both will be introduced in the next catalogue.
"I'm a breeder and producer of flowers and vegetable seeds," said
Ball, who seemed much more comfortable talking about breeding and
producing flowers and vegetable seeds than Chapter 11 and bankruptcy.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Sunday, October 7, 2001
Sunsitter
>
>All went out of business within a year.
There was one in Medford, NJ. I found it to be very attractive establishment,
but very overpriced.
.......Audrey
Sylvia Steiger
that they didn't get their Burpee orders ... I personally don't plan to
buy from them, and if many people are as suspicious as I am, it'll go
down the tubes fast.
--
Sylvia Steiger RN BS
Remove "removethis" from address to reply
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SylviaRN/quilting.htm
Cheyenne WY, USDA zone 5a, Sunset zone 1a
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SylviaRN/land.htm
Home of the Wyoming Wind Festival, January 1-December 31
Dianna Visek
etc.
Dianna